Cradle Of Filth – The Screaming of The Valkyries
Cradle Of Filth – The Screaming of The Valkyries
Napalm Records
Release Date: 21/03/25
Running Time: 55:38
Review by Dark Juan
9/10
Good morning, good people. Today is brought to you with massive amounts of anxiety juice (coffee), around 4 hours sleep in the past 48 hours thanks to a recalcitrant young gentleman having to be extricated from somewhere (I was immensely glad of the estimable and amiable police Constable who decided quite helpfully to assist in my extracting the silly little sod) he really shouldn’t have been, and a dog who will not let me type with my left hand as he has welded himself to my side as I have just come home from work and is demanding chesticle scritches via the simple expedient of utilising the Paw of Doom ™ on my keyboard and making it look like this is being typed by a person who actually cannot read.
Which makes it indistinguishable from my usual rantings, to be fair.
So, you get this review when I am totally dead. Which probably means it will make more sense than it usually does because I am actually having to think about what I am doing. Non omnis moriar, and all that.
So, to the music then. The Platter of Splatter ™ has been removed from its tower and is clad in its usual Gothic accoutrements and is prostrate on the floor, an offering placed reverently on it, this being the latest opus (their fourteenth!) from Dani Filth’s merry bunch of miscreants, Cradle of Filth.
A disclaimer (of sorts) – Dark Juan is committed to underground music, but there are some bands that I have followed from the very inception of their careers, and Cradle of Filth is one of those bands, no matter whether or not you love or hate them, I fucking love them and have done for decades. Apart from “The Manticore and Other Horrors” and “Nymphetamine” anyway, both of which I consider missteps in an otherwise illustrious canon… Hang on, the Mossy Boggart (the annoying dog who has the Paw of Doom ™) is at it again. Fhuu0eh0[ii00if[h40h0i[0k[opiohbiyucyf9iihpiviyctutyiguhgu9gv8yv8y9bh08h8ihb9yb908h0ugbvytvy8
Fuck’s sake.
Now I have finally rid myself (temporarily) of the furry parasite, who is looking mournfully and sighing at me as if he’s ever done an iota of solid graft in his life, I will return to what I was fucking talking about.
Cradle of Filth – “The Screaming of The Valkyries” is the name of this album and the first thing that strikes this seasoned listener to the demented Gothic Cabaret Metal of COF is that the sound has tightened up noticeably and this record has a much more chunky sound than recent recordings. The bass is pleasingly meaty, but the band don’t stray too far from their battle-tested tactics of hyperspeed, blistering passages, extravagant guitar soloing and ubergothic, lamenting passages melded with Trad Metal guitar lines and Dani’s trademark, teetering-on-the-brink-of-insanity, visceral howl.
There hasn’t been a band quite like Cradle of Filth for being able to tell a whole story in a single song for quite some time and it is that narrative quality to the lyrics that grips Dark Juan’s attention firmly by the throat. The music is almost a soundtrack to the tales of dark delights and terrible woe that flow from Dani’s pen…
“To Live Deliciously” is a fairly low key opener for this album, which is a surprise as normally COF don’t hold back in chucking everything including the kitchen sink and the bathroom furniture at the listener in a blast of pure Gothic overload. But it seems the band have chosen to not be such overblown troubadours clad in leather and silk for this record and have stripped back the sound somewhat to a more Metal blueprint. This is not to say that they have abandoned pomposity and overblown theatrics (“The Trinity of Shadows” gets very close to what you would call “classic” Cradle of Filth in parts, but sticks with the more modern, heavier sound on the album) but this first track is very much a Metal tune with added Cradle of Filth, rather than Cradle of Filth with added Metal. You know what I mean, there have been times in the career of the Filth when they have gone too far and forgotten that they are a Metal band at their core. That fucking awful cover of Heaven 17’s “Temptation”, for example. God, I hate that song so much.
“Non Omnis Moriar” returns us to the dark vale of Cradle of Filth’s earlier music, all Gothic pomposity and the misery-engineering of the likes of Paradise Lost, until they pick up the pace and allow Zoe Marie Federoff a go at the microphone, her dulcet tones allied with Dani utilising a vile, visceral growl rather than his usual shrieking, whistle tone delivery. It’s a fucking brilliant song where the guitars duel slowly with each other and there is a sense of melancholy menace that pervades the whole song. You could easily imagine Anathema’s early vocalist Darren White contributing on this song, sharing that same dank melancholy that so entranced the young Dark Juan when he first encountered the Scouse Gothic Doomsters. It’s truly a gorgeous, affecting song and a real highlight of the album, whereas “White Hellebore” combines furious Thrashing and some absolutely fucking killer riffing and coruscating piano, along with the sweet tones of Federoff juxtaposing Filth’s roar. This is Cradle of Filth at their most dangerous – they have always been a superb Metal band with fucking serious chops beneath the greasepaint, PVC fetish wear, and extreme theatricality.
Like him or hate him, Dani Filth is the consummate frontman as well. His personality shines through on this album and his lyrical genius is utterly undiminished from that fateful day when a third hand copy of “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh” found its way into my possession, although I did have a chuckle at the title of “You Are My Nautilus”. What, Dani? Are you comparing your love to an ancient, shelled and tentacled cephalopod? Or are you comparing the poor woman to Captain Nemo’s erstwhile submarine? I simply have no desire to know about your narwhal’s tusk, mate. Or what you do with it.
Neither of these are flattering comparisons. One implies that Dani has been hitting the tentacle porn anime genre too hard, and the other says that the poor lass is comparable to a huge, steel cigar that is unyielding and covered in anechoic tiles.
Either way, one can picture the wedding night all too clearly in both instances. I need to get out more and probably sleep at some point.
Anyway, I’m rambling now. The coffee has started to work. To sum up, Cradle of Filth have released another triumphant record, which doesn’t quite reach the heights of “Principle”, “Midian” or “Dusk and Her Embrace” but does break some new ground for the band without them straying too wildly from their hugely successful and very engaging blueprint of melancholy, Trad Metal riffing, Gothic magnificence and Blackened Thrash Metal. The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System is pleased to award them 9/10 for a record that is an estimable addition to their already bulging catalogue of dark joys. Their uniqueness knows no bounds and “The Screaming of The Valkyries” just cements that reputation.
TRACKLISTING:
01. To Live Deliciously
02. Demagoguery
03. The Trinity Of Shadows
04. Non Omnis Moriar
05. White Hellebore
06. You Are My Nautilus
07. Malignant Perfection
08. Ex Sanguine Draculae
09. When Misery Was A Stranger
LINE-UP:
Dani Filth: Lead vocals
Martin “Marthus” Škaroupka: Drums, keyboards, and orchestration
Daniel Firth: Bass
Marek “Ashok” Šmerda: Guitars
Donny Burbage: Guitars
Zoe Marie Federoff: Keyboards and female vocals
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.